


What Are The Chances?

by ginger_angel



Series: What Are The Chances? 'verse [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Costumes, First Meetings, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Meet-Cute, Misunderstandings, nurse!bucky, volunteer!Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 10:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21073649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginger_angel/pseuds/ginger_angel
Summary: Bucky’s favorite holiday is Halloween.  He’s dressed as his favorite superhero while he works his nursing shift on October 31st.  Little does he know that the real Captain America is coming to the hospital to visit the children’s wing and he is also in costume.  Bucky runs into him while making his rounds but doesn’t recognize him.  He teases him a little about the fact that they are both dressed as Captain America (the other Cap’s costume is much better made than his) and it isn’t until Steve removes his cowl that Bucky finds out the truth.  Cue an adorably flustered Bucky and a surprisingly attracted Steve.





	What Are The Chances?

**Author's Note:**

> This not only fills my Bucky Barnes Bingo Square for "Captain America" but was largely inspired by the BBB Spooky Season prompts of "costumes" and "look, I dressed up as you". I took them both in my own direction. I wrote most of this in one day so there may be some grammatical errors. If you see one, let me know and I will fix it! Also, I'm super bad at tagging, so if you think I need to add any, let me know that too. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Bucky loves being a nurse. He always knew he wanted to help people, but being a nurse allows him to help them in unexpected ways. Sometimes he’s there with a bandaid and a gentle word and sometimes he’s there with the tough love and suture kit. Point is, Bucky may look bad ass on the outside, but nurse is the last thing people expect to hear when they ask what he does for a living. He kinda likes it that way. 

Bucky usually works a rotation in the ER for Halloween. The weirdest stuff always happens and it gives him a valid excuse to skip parties. Halloween may be his favorite holiday, but he’s too old to stand in a corner and sip questionable booze while watching adults he may or may not know dressed in a range of problematic costumes getting too drunk to have a normal conversation. 

But this year, his rotation on Halloween has moved from the ER to the children’s ward. Which, okay. Being a nurse in the children’s ward is likely to be less messy than the ER and it’s definitely quieter than the ER. He’s down to give the kids some holiday cheer since they are unable to go out trick-or-treating. He decides at the last minute to dress up in costume instead of opting for his skull patterned scrubs in camo print. And since he procrastinated, it’s been tough trying to find a decent costume. He ends up with a Captain America costume that is too small in some places and too large in others. And he’s pretty sure that the inside of his thighs are starting to chafe. But the kids are getting a kick out of it, so Bucky will take the discomfort in exchange for the smiles that he’ll be seeing on his rounds.

It isn’t until his third round that he figures out why the kids love his costume so much. He happens to walk into a room where another adult dressed as Captain America has been reading  _ Where the Wild Things Are  _ to Simone Reese. Simone has been in the hospital for a couple of weeks and is thankfully making a slow recovery. Her doc thinks she’ll be back home in time for Christmas. Bucky needs to take her vitals and check the IV, so is momentarily stunned to see someone dressed in almost the exact same costume smiling down at the little girl. She’s looking at this man with stars in her eyes and Bucky can see why. This man’s costume fits him so much better than Bucky’s and the quality is apparent even from across the room. Bucky really shouldn’t but he takes a few moments to admire the biceps and shoulder-to-waist ratio this dude has going on. Plus he’s got a cowl. Bucky thought about the cowl but figured doing his job was more important than including that piece of the costume. He is also 99.9% sure that this man dropped some serious cash to get a costume this well made. 

“Hey, Simone,” he greets as he walks to the IV pole. Mr. Captain America has finished the story and closed the book. “Time to get you checked out for the night.” Bucky smiles at him and gets a shy smile in return. Must be kinda awkward for him to see that he dressed up the same as one of the nurses on rotation. But the Avengers are kinda popular right now so Bucky won’t tease him about it….much.

“Bucky!” She looks so excited to see him and he can’t tell if it’s the costume or just him. He decides to go for the latter. “You’re Captain America too?”

“Well, if I’d known that Captain America would be showing up today, I would have worn my Iron Man costume.” Bucky turns his smile on her and reaches over to tickle her behind her ear. The man rises from the bed and stands fidgeting awkwardly in the corner. “Hey, man. You didn’t have to stop on my account. I just need to check a few things with Miss Simone here and then I’ll be moving on.”

“Uh, that’s...that’s okay. I’ve got more kids to see this evening.” He starts moving towards the door. Bucky quickly types his password into the computer beside the bed and enters his notes. His eyes flit between the computer screen, Simone, and the costumed man who looks like he’s trying to sneak out of the room.

“No one told me that someone would be here visiting the kids tonight. You doing this as some sort of community service thing?” Bucky sees volunteers come in on occasion. They come to read stories, play video games and give parents a small break. Sometimes they get actors and athletes to visit, but those are usually pre-planned and announced to staff.

“You could say that, I guess. I usually try and visit the kids when I have free time. I guess I didn’t realize Halloween would be such a big thing.”

“That is real sweet of you.” Bucky is calling this guy ‘Cap’ in his head, but it’s kinda awkward. If this guy is going to be around the children’s ward, he should get a name. He won’t be dressed up as Captain America after tonight, after all. “Hey, I’m Bucky,” he reaches his hand out over the bed. 

“Steve.” The handshake is brief, but strong. 

“No sh….uh, way. Really?” Bucky looks quickly at Simone to see if she caught his slip up, but she’s flipping through the book that Steve, apparently, has just finished reading to her. Steve’s cheeks are flushed under that cowl he’s wearing but Bucky can’t figure out why he’d be embarrassed at being named after the First Avenger. He is dressed like him, after all. It’s adorable.

“That’s actually cool. It fits with the theme,” Bucky explains, pointedly looking at Steve from head to toe. “You know, we’re a pretty dynamic pair. Both dressed as superheroes, both doing heroic things on a holiday weekend instead of going out partying. Maybe we should continue this conversation in the cafeteria over a hot cup of coffee.” 

“Are you flirting with me?” Steve steps closer to Bucky. Bucky lets out a sigh of relief. It was a gamble to flirt with someone he’s known for all of five minutes, but the physical attributes, the way he acted with Simone, and the fact that he was spending his Halloween visiting sick kids was checking all of Bucky’s boxes.

“You bet your pert ass in those pants I am.” Bucky flutters his eyelashes at Steve adds a wink to his response causing Steve’s blush to spread. “I’m on break in about 10 minutes. You got time to take it with me?” Bucky locks the computer, waves at Simone, and walks out into the hall. 

Bucky feels Steve follow him into the hall and it isn’t until Bucky turns to him that he sees Steve has removed the cowl.

“Holy shit,” Bucky whispers, shocked into stillness. Standing in front of him is Steve Rogers, actual Captain America.

“Language,” Steve admonishes with a nervous smile. His cheeks are still rosy, as if he is still embarrassed. Bucky’s not sure what he has to be flustered about. If anything, Bucky should be the one embarrassed, but he feels as though he might faint, so there’s that.

“No kids out here,” he says reflexively. Then he looks up and down the hall just to make sure. Yep, no one currently in the hall to bear witness to Steve’s epic reveal. “I dressed up as you.”

“You sure did,” answers Steve.

“No, but,” Bucky stops and rubs his temples as he closes his eyes for a moment. How will he ever survive this encounter? Taking a deep breath, he motions to Steve’s costume and then to his obvious knockoff. “I’m dressed up as you.”

“Yeah, buddy. You said that already,” Steve is amused, Bucky can tell. But at least he has enough class not to outright laugh at Bucky’s reaction. Bucky’s pretty sure he would sink through the floor if actual Captain America laughed at him. As it stands, he’ll totally understand if Steve doesn’t follow him down to the cafeteria. Captain America is a national icon and there's been no whispers of anything unsavory in the news. Not that being attracted to men is unsavory, but Steve has a reputation and Bucky has no interest in ruining that reputation over a cup of coffee.

“Hey, yeah. So, I’m gonna go. Break time.” Bucky starts walking backwards towards the nurses station so that he can clock out and then run away. Steve looks...disappointed? What?

“Am I uninvited to coffee with you?” He’s frowning at Bucky. Bucky pauses his backwards walk. 

He’s tentative in his response but he wants Steve to know that this is more of a Steve thing than a Bucky thing. “Uh, no? I figured you wouldn’t want to take me up on that coffee date now that I know who you are.”

“It’s just coffee, right? I mean, you aren’t going to pull me into a supply closet and molest my mouth with your tongue?” Bucky just stares at Steve because,  _ holy hell _ , that is an excellent idea. And also who knew that Steve Rogers had such a dirty mind? These are definitely things that Bucky is looking forward to learning about him if things continue after coffee.

“I usually save that for the third date, Rogers,” he replies while putting a hand on his hip. What is Bucky’s life right now? He’s flirting with Steve Rogers, actual Captain America. Yeah, he had also been flirting when they were in Simone’s room, but that was before he knew he was flirting with a superhero. Steve seems totally into the flirting, even without the cowl on, so Bucky tries to turn up the charm again. He’s going to give himself whiplash one of these days, but not today when he’s about to have a 15 minute coffee date with a real sweet guy who also happens to be an actual superhero. Who knows where this will go, but it’s enough that he’s going to spend some time with Steve Rogers and that it all started with a misunderstanding about Halloween costumes.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so...if you liked it, click that kudos button or write me a few words in a comment. Okay? Okay.


End file.
